Apparatus for producing wire-bars by electrodeposition



(N M a 1. A Y 8 J. B. PORSYTH & 0. R. FLETCHER. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCINGWIRE BARS BY ELEGTRUDEPOSITION.

N0. 5'70;125. Patented Oct. 27, 1896.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES BENNETT FORSYTH AND CHARLES R. FLETCHER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING WIRE-BARS BY ELECTRODEPOSITION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 570,125, dated October27, 1896.

Application filed June 2'7, 1892. Serial No. 43 8,099. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that we, JAMES BENNETT FOE- SYTH and CHARLES R. FLETCHER,citizens of the United States, and residents of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Producing Wire-Bars by Electrodeposition,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to thedrawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.

This invention is an improvement in electrolytic apparatus by means ofwhich long continuous bars or strips of copper of high electricalconductivity and great tensile strength may be produced directlyby theprocess of eleotrodeposition and in a form suitable for drawing intowire.

The apparatus or device in which our improvements reside may beemployed, it will be understood, for the production of bars or strips ofother metals without material change in the character or construction ofthe apparatus itself.

Until the present time it has been usual in employing electrodepositedcopper and other metals in the manufacture of wire to melt theelectrolytic copper and then cast it into wire-bars, which areafterwarddrawn down to the desired diameter or gage; but this is theplan followed in the ordinary process of wire-drawing for copper wire,and not only is the length of the wire limited, but in the process ofmelting the small quantities of impurities conveyed into the copperaffect to a certain extent its conductivity.

It has been proposed to employ a cylindrical rotary cathode divided by aspiral line or band of insulation, so as to form a long continuous stripof depositing-surface, with the object of producing bars of copper byelectrodeposition of such length as will render them salable as barswithout further treatment; but the means for accomplishing this have notmet the conditions of practicability, particularly in such cases asthose which we more particularly c0ntemplateviz., the direct productionby electrodeposition of wire-bars suitable for drawing. To produce anapparatus that will render this work practicable and by means of whichlong continuous bars or strips may be directly produced by suitableelectrolytic processes is the object of our invention.

In carrying out our improvements we employ a cylindrical rotatingcathode so prepared that copper or other metals may be electrodepositedupon it and divide its surface into a long,narrow,and continuousdepositingsurface by an insulating-division of special characterextending around the same spirally.

In the drawings which are hereto annexed a portion of our improvedcathode is illustrated partly in elevation and partly in section inFigure 1. Fig. 2 is an end view, partly in section, of the same; andFig. 3 is a sectional view of a part of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale.

We prefer in practice to use a cylindrical cathode provided withtrunnions or in other ways constructed to be mounted in a suitableelectrolytic tank or vat in the usual manner, so as to be capable ofrotation therein. This cathode is composed of a wrought-iron cylinder F,closed at the ends, which are covered by insulating material B. Over theiron surface of the cylinder a shell G of passive metal is cast orfitted, and in this is cut by any proper mechanical means a spiralgroove H, which is preferably dovetail in section, and the surface ofthe passive metal between the spires of the groove is turned to a smoothface. Long strips K of an insulating material, such as rubber, areformed with their edges beveled, as indicated in the drawings, so as toconstitute beveled or inclined walls on each side of the spiral groove,and these are stretched and laid in the spiral groove, so that whenreleased from distention they will contract and completely fill up thespace in the dovetail groove H. This device,when used as a cathode,receives the deposit upon the conducting-surface at the bottom of thespiral groove, and the deposited metal is built up, partially or whollyfilling the said groove.

By the use of a groove or depositing-space both sides of which are ofnon-conducting material and inclined or beveled,as described, the copperstrips or wire-bars can be most conveniently detached when produced ofsufficient thickness. The insulating-divisions IOO between the groovescannot become displaced in our device and greatly facilitate the removalof the deposited strips Without injury to the cathode. \Vhile inpractice We would prefer to employ a cylindrical cathode, it is stillobvious that the improvements embodied in the apparatus which We havedescribed are equally applicable to cathodes of other shapes or forms.

The insulating material hereinbefore referred to as employed in theconstruction of our improved cathode is preferably guttapercha, and thepassive metal which we einploy is such a material as electrotype-metal.

Having thus described our invention, What we claim is- 1. A cathode forelectrolytic apparatus composed of a cylinder, With a surface ofconducting material and a strip of non-conducting material laid in aspiral groove cut or formed Witnesses as to the signature of JamesBennett Forsyth:

JAMEs W. GIRvIN, W. L. NUTTING. \Vitnesses as to the signature ofCharles R. Fletcher:

R. WORTHINGTON, J r., H. M. REED.

